Next polls to be held under EC, not Hasina: Quader

Obaidul Quader
Obaidul Quader

Road transport and bridges minister Obaidul Quader on Wednesday said the next general elections will be held under the Election Commission (EC), not under prime minister Sheikh Hasina.

“Next general elections will be held under the election commission (EC), not under Sheikh Hasina,” he told journalists after a meeting on Indo-Bangla Maitree Bridge-1 at Ramgarh upazila in Khagrachhari district, reports BSS.

Criticising the remarks of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia over the next elections, Quader, also ruling Awami League (AL) general secretary, said the BNP chief is trying to blackmail the people fearing her defeat in the next polls.

Earlier on Tuesday, Khaleda Zia said, “Elections cannot be held keeping this parliament and elections can also not be held under [Sheikh] Hasina.”

She alleged that her arch rival, premier Hasina-led Bangladesh Awami League (AL) did not come to power with the people’s mandate.

“This government is not elected with the people’s vote and as it’s not elected, elections cannot be held under this government. There is nothing called parliament today.

“Hasina made an arrangement for holding polls keeping parliament in place, in order to stay in power. None of them got votes in the 2014 elections. They are not eligible to be members of parliament, so parliament must be dissolved,” she added.

She further said though the government is dreaming of building the Padma Bridge, it can't be constructed during the tenure of the current government.

“The Padma Bridge won't be constructed during the Awami League's rule. Even, if they somehow construct the bridge, please don't get on it as there'll be huge risk,” she added.

Replying to a query of newsmen, the minister Quader said seeing the progress of the Padma Bridge construction, Begum Zia started expressing her resentment on this.

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